Unofficial Netflix app hits Ubuntu

Trent Nouveau, 19th November 2012

The desktop browser version of Netflix relies on Microsoft Silverlight and isn't exactly compatible with Linux - at least up until now.

As TG Daily previously reported, a developer by the name of Erich Hoover recently formulated a method of allowing Netflix to run on Ubuntu-powered PCs via WINE.

Essentially, Hoover's method runs the Windows versions of Firefox and the Windows versions of Silverlight in a Linux environment - rather than trying to get native Linux versions of those apps to work with Netflix.

And now Hoover has made it even easier for Ubuntu aficionados to load Netflix in Ubuntu via a comprehensive app that installs and configures custom version of Wine, Microsoft Silverlight and Mozilla Firefox - which are all geared to launching Netflix in full-screen mode (Note: you can reduce the size of the screen by simply hitting F11, or closing the app by hitting Alt + F4).

"The process is actually pretty simple. You just need to fire up a terminal, add Hoover’s repository, and then install the netflix-desktop app which should download and configure everything else you need," explained Brad Linder of Liliputing.

"But while the process is simple, it’s not exactly foolproof. I was able to get a Netflix icon on a computer running Lubuntu, but I’ve been having a difficult time getting Firefox to install properly in Wine... After installing, uninstalling, and removing files a few times, I managed to get everything working."

Interested? You can find detailed instructions here. And kudos to Hoover, who will likely continue refining and updating his app over the next few weeks.